Nathan Lyon Believes India Will Still Be Strong in Virat Kohli's Absence
IMAGE: COLLECTED
|| India Correspondent ||
Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon believes Virat Kohli’s absence in the upcoming series against Australia for the last three Tests wouldn’t mean Australia win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with ease.
Notably, India captain Virat Kohli will only play the opening Test in Adelaide as his paternity leave has been granted by the BCCI as he is going to be the father soon of his first child in early January with his actor wife Anushka Sharma.
However, Lyon, who considered Kohli as one of the best batsmen in the world, is a bit disappointed to not get plenty of opportunities to dismiss him in the series.
"It's disappointing for the series. You want to play against the best players in the world. I believe he is the best player in the world along with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. It's disappointing but they have still got superstars. Look at Pujara, Rahane, and they have also got a couple of young guys coming in. It's still going to be a massive challenge for us," Lyon was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
"Just because Virat's not here doesn't mean we get to hold the trophy up. We've still got a lot of work to do, a lot of homework to do," he further added.
India's tour of Australia consists of three ODIs, as many T20 Internationals and four Tests as well. The series will begin on November 27 whereas the Test series will begin on December 17 in Adelaide. On the other hand, Virat Kohli will miss the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne (December 26-30), New Year's Test in Sydney (January 7-11) and the final one at the Gabba (January 15-19).
Meanwhile, the team has reached Sydney for the series and they will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period as well.
